Our history

A change of role

With the advent of mechanical signalling, the telegraph to
improve communication and the introduction of county and borough
police forces, the railway policeman's role 'lineside' to protect
the track and regulate traffic became surplus to requirements.
Instead, they were expected to prevent and investigate crime and to
assist with station duties.

An 1837 regulation of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
required intended passengers to apply to a constable for a ticket.
He required 24 hours notice and noted the "name, address, place of
birth, age, occupation and reason for the journey in his book".
This accounts for the term 'booking office'. If the journey was
considered to be for a "just lawful cause", a ticket would be
issued.

Crime on the railway

The expanding rail network gave criminals new opportunities to
move around the country and commit crime. The railways were
pioneers of the electric telegraph and its use often involved the
arrest of criminals arriving or departing by train. On 1 January
1845 a railway police sergeant became the first person to
arrest murderer John
Tawell following the use of an electric
telegraph.

As the amount of merchandise carried by rail increased the amount
of thefts on the railways rose. In 1838 Her Majesty's Mails were
conveyed by rail for the first time. The first mail thefts were
reported shortly afterwards. In 1848 the Eastern Counties Railway
lost 76 pieces of luggage in just one day, and by the following
year thefts from the largest six railways amounted to more than
£100,000 a year.

Thefts of goods were often committed by railway staff and in 1873
ten railmen were each sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for
stealing from their employers.

The first railway murder was committed by a German called Muller,
who robbed and killed a fellow passenger on a train in north London
in 1864.

The first arrest abroad by British police occurred in 1874 when a
Metropolitan Police inspector accompanied by a railway police
inspector went to the United States to arrest a former employee who
had embezzled from the Grand Metropolitan Railway.

As claims for compensation for lost goods increased, the Railway
Companies decided to act by forming detective departments. The
London and North Western Railway and Great Western Railway formed
their CID in 1863 but had used police officers in plain clothes to
undertake special enquiries for several years before.

Decline

As police duties were diverted from traffic control to
protective work, control of the force was divided and the principal
departments, such as the operating and commercial department, had
their own police establishments. This led to a decline in the
railway police at a time when, after the passing of the 1856 County
Police Act, County Police Forces were being formed and becoming
better organised.

Some railway companies maintained a police force with uniforms and
police powers, whereas others reduced their forces, their duties
being restricted to those in the companies’ interests. Often they
performed non-police related tasks and one railway employed railmen
unfit for normal duties as constables.

At the turn of the century, the railway police were a hotchpotch of
various forces, some with efficient uniformed men but others with
old and undisciplined officers, 'police' in name only and with a
variety of duties to perform. In Ilford, one poor railway police
sergeant was blamed for a collision that took place while he dealt
with some trespassers. He should have been changing some
points.

A time for change

From 1900 several railway companies reorganised their police
forces. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway virtually
reformed their force from scratch, followed by the Great Eastern,
the North Eastern and Midland in 1910, Caledonian in 1917 and the
GWR in 1918. As with almost all county and borough forces these
reorganised forces were headed by ex-army officers.

At this time, the North Eastern Railway Police became the first
police force in this country to use dog patrols. Visit our dog section page to read more about the history
of dogs in BTP.

A new century

Reorganisation dragged the railway police into the 20th century
as pay, conditions and uniforms were improved. One railway provided
training for its constables and facilities to improve their
education and manuals of guidance were issued. These reforms came
just in time, for the First World WarGreat War was to put a huge
strain on the railways and its police.

In some railway police forces more than half of the manpower was
conscripted, the remaining officers being supplemented by special
constables and, for the first time, female police officers. In 1914
the Great Eastern Railway Police recruited nine women as special
constables, one of the first police forces to do so.

Hours for the railway police increased and wages dropped.
Special wartime regulations gave police extra duties as the
railways became targets for bombers. Several stations received
direct hits including London's Liverpool Street and St. Pancras
where there were many casualties.